Ed Koch, controversial exMayor of NYC died at the age of 88

He supported countless anti-gay Republicans, and pitted ethnic groups against each other for political gain. A sad closet case. May he rest in peace.

I just knew him and his politics when I moved to NYC after 9/11. He was an adamant Bushie cheerleader. By the time, I learned too much about his politics, he was a Democrat in name only.

And he was an awful bad judge in movies as well as he was a professional film reviewer for much of the decade.

Not the worst of the mayors which the city has endured and at one point in time he was moderately decent at mayoring and prior to that as a congressman.

His politics changed over the years as have those of many politicians and people in general. Often they changed in a direction which was less than satisfactory (at least to my way of thinking).

One of my biggest beefs with Ed Koch was how he began the decline of affordable housing in New York City (all 5 boroughs). Koch was not an advocate or supporter of rent guidelines (stabilization and rent control policies..insanely annoying since he himself lived in a village apartment which was rent controlled), nor did he give a damn about the single people living in the s.r.o.s (single room occupancy). When he was first elected in 1977 there were several buildings which fell under the s.r.o. categorization. Places on the west side in the 6os and 70s where people had their own room, shared bath, most times with no cooking facilities were in some cases demolished, in others the buildings were renovated and turned into full size and unaffordable apartments. Men and women who worked minimum wage or low wage and people on fixed incomes were quickly evicted and left to their own devices for locating other accommodations. The homeless population exploded. (it grew more later in the Koch years but for different reasons).

In the overall scheme of things, Koch was something of a pied piper and by prancing about the city could get people to believe he was doing good for the city when many times maybe he wasn't. He did however lead the city back up from a financial edge...although the low wage people were those who ended up paying the most.

By the end of his 3rd term people had grown weary of him and threw David Dinkins on the subway tracks which proved disastrous and led to the horrors of Dictators Giuliani and Bloomberg, 2 f.h.s that must have things done their way or else it won't get done. Koch at least occasionally worked with people.

May he find peace in whatever hereafter he's been sent to.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/nyregion/edward-i-koch-ex-mayor-of-new-york-dies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

He was a hell of a character and a darn good mayor.

My one beef with him was that he couldn't string more than three words together without inserting an "uhmm." Drove me crazy.

RIP Ed, you did well.

I dont get ulcers, I give em!!

What's it like viewing the world through the tiny window of sexual orientation?

I tend to think Koch was asexual, and his only lover was NYC.

Unless you have real proof that he was gay you are no better than the homophobes who assume he was because he didn't have a wife or a girlfriend which the public could identify.

And if you do, so what? Where is it written that anyone who happens to be gay has to think like you?

I suspect that Ed, irrespective of his actual sexual orientation, was able to view the world and political candidates in a spectrum that wasn't limited to a single issue.

I'm right, and you're wrong

I was very active in politics when Koch was in Congress and then when he was mayor. I met him a few times. He was one of the few politicians I met who didn't strike me as a phony, power crazed joik. It was my impresion that he actually cared about the city and the job he was doing.

Was he perfect? No. Was he a good mayor? Sometimes. Was he better than most? I think so.

RIP Ed Koch.